THE END OF THE FORGERS

 

Susscovitch, or Adams, was then already a leading forger in the country, and he introduced Chapman, who visited his saloon, to the criminal associates he would later join. Among the number was Mark Shinburn, a noted burglar, who is now living in the luxurious enjoyment of his ill-gotten gains, and having bought a German title of nobility, is now known as Baron Shindle. Shinburn, at that time, had succeeded in robbing the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company at White Haven, in Pennsylvania, of a large amount of money and valuables, among which were certain negotiable securities. As Chapman was perfectly conversant with the banking and broking business, and had a reputable character, he was believed to be an available party to dispose of these securities, and after a slight demur, he agreed to do so. Because he was held in high regard within the community, he had no trouble leveraging several thousand dollars in securities for loans. To Chapman's great dismay and shame, several of these White Haven bonds were publicly flagged as stolen, leading to his arrest in connection with the robbery.

Naturally, Chapman's arrest led to the loss of his position of trust and permanently damaged his reputation for honesty. The court recognized his past respectability and business standing at his trial. A credible explanation of his possession of the securities, coupled with the return of all remaining assets, allowed him to escape legal consequences.

However, his social ruin was absolute, and succumbing to the allure of those around him, and left to fend for himself, he joined with others in a calculated plan of forgery. Chapman, shortly after this, induced a poor young man named Joseph Randall, who was then under twenty years of age, and of unblemished reputation, to join with them. Randall

As a clerk at a well-known bank, he proved to be a significant asset to the gang, with his employers viewing him as exceptionally clever and discerning. To these parties Chapman also introduced his junior clerk, Charles W. Pontez, but although this young man was often seen in their company afterward, it was not known that he had ever engaged with them in any of their dishonest operations. The first attempt which these men, Chapman, Randall, Adams, Charles Becker and " old man " Hearing, as he was familiarly called, made, was in forging a check for a large amount upon one of the principal banks of the city of New York, and so skillfully was their work executed that they escaped detection and in fact suspicion.

Buoyed by their first victory, they proceeded with their chosen profession in Baltimore, Richmond, Memphis, Vicksburg, New Orleans, and many other cities throughout the South. However, their good fortune did not last; in New Orleans, they were discovered and pursued so relentlessly that they had to flee the country, taking a significant amount of money with them.

They went to Central America, where they speedily dissipated their funds, and then they resorted to other forgeries there. Despite their arrest for an unsuccessful attempt, they all escaped their poorly secured prison. Their appearance had changed so much by the time they got back to the U.S. that they were unrecognizable.

Following the robbery of the Third National Bank of Baltimore, Chapman and Randall became suspects and escaped to Europe. In Europe, they connected with Charles Becker and Howard Adams, who were also fugitives from American justice.

In London, Chapman and his wife rented a handsome house on Neville road, which they furnished in a luxurious manner and entertained their friends sumptuously. The four men then started on a grand tour of forgery through the continent. In Turkey they tried to forge the bonds issued by that government, but so hastily and clumsily that they were detected, and after a trial were sentenced to several years' imprisonment. They were confined in the consular prison at Smyrna, and after a short imprisonment, Randall and Becker managed to escape, and by slow stages worked their way back again to London with a considerable sum of money.

Mrs. Chapman, hearing of the ingratitude of Randall and Becker, in leaving her husband in jail, wrote a letter to Charles NV. Pontez, whom she had known for many years, and who still lived in New York. In this letter she requested Pontez to visit several friends of her husband, among the crooked fraternity, and solicit their aid on behalf of both her and her husband. Pontez performed the duty requested of him but found that none of them were on a condition to give any help in affecting the liberation of her husband.

Meanwhile Adams, or Susscovitch, had made his way to London, and was a frequent visitor at the house of Mrs. Chapman. IV when he learned that no money was to be received from America, and knowing that Mrs. Chapman had some in her possession, he deliberately murdered the lady, and seizing her money and jewelry disappeared. This brutal and cowardly deed created great excitement in England, at the time, and among the effects of the unfortunate woman was found and published, this letter from Charles W. Pontez.

Susscovitch is now in jail in Ohio for forgery, and when his term expires, he will be sent back to England to answer for the murder of Mrs. Chapman, the discovery of his commission of that deed not having been made until he had been tried for the forgery in this country.

From these facts it will be seen that, Charles IV. Pontez, the correspondent of Mrs. Chapman, and the associate of the gang of forgers, and Charles NV. Pontez and the clerk from the New York Life Insurance Company were the same individual. I was therefore inclined to believe that we were upon track of the right parties.

From the clerk of the cashier of the insurance company, whose duty it to draw the checks for the institution, it was learned recently Pontez had managed to have some business with him at the particular times when he would be engaged in filling up checks ; that this had occurred frequently, and that he had conversed at these times longer than there was any business necessity for doing. No importance had been attached to this action at the time, but in the light of later events, they were considered suggestive and having learned thus much of the actions and earlier associations of Charles W. Pontez, we were enabled to go ahead with our investigation intelligently and with strong hopes of success.

The preliminary investigations of Horace Brown and George L. Maxwell were now concluded, and without reflecting upon their business honor they were placed under bonds to appear whenever needed. This action quieted the public mind, and we were enabled to devote our attention to Mr. Charles W. Pontez. Every movement he made, when at all observable, was closely watched by trusted men, who followed him by day and by night without his knowledge. He had a reputation for visiting saloons, attending plays, and living extravagantly, yet to be of a character to excite suspicion. An operative eventually told my son, Robert Pinkerton, one evening that Pontez was at the theater with a man and woman, and the man's face struck the operative as familiar, but he couldn't be sure who it was. Eager to follow any clue that would lead to success, Robert at once repaired to the place of amusement chosen, and closely scanned the entire audience, to discover the parties he was in search of. He soon singled out Pontez and his companions, and despite their changed appearances, he recognized them as Joseph Randall, the accomplice of Chapman, and his wife, a variety actress of great beauty and accomplishments, whom he had brought from Europe some time ago. This pointed strongly to the conclusion that the same gang who had so successfully defrauded the capitalists of every country in Europe, and section of the United States, were now at work.

Operatives were at once placed upon the track of Randall, when he left the theater. And when the play was over, the shadows followed silently after the trio. Charles W. Pontez had now related to a noted forger, many of whose deeds were known, and this forger the companion of the man whose wife had written to him asking for his services in her behalf.

Slowly and ceaselessly, the coils began to wrap around the men, starting from this spot. Day and night, their movements were shadowed by silent, haunting figures; Pontez and Joseph Randall did not meet again. Knowing fully, however, the antecedents of Randall, and believing that in this forgery we had discovered unmistakable evidence of his handiwork, my vigilance never relaxed for a moment, and every movement he made was known fully by me, as by himself.

This espionage continued for two weeks unremittingly and was at length rewarded. One night, during the latter part of the month of February, a cold, stormy night, when the sky was dull and heavy, and the white, feathery flakes of snow fell noiselessly to the earth; when the wind howled through the princely avenues of the great city, and the gaslights glimmered through the mists like rows of stars, the detective stood under the shelter of a doorway, and shiveringly watched the residence of Joseph Randall.

Soon that individual made his appearance, fully muffled up and protected from the storm, and making his way hastily to Broadway, he hailed a passing omnibus, and entered, followed at the next corner, by the detective who had run on in advance of the vehicle, in order not to excite suspicion. Reaching one of the streets in the lower part of the city, which led to the ferries, Randall left the coach and the detective followed suit.

When they arrived at the Courtlandt St. Ferry, the passengers were just appearing from the ferry house, having crossed from Jersey City, where the railroads deliver their passengers. Presently Randall darted forward and grasped by the hand one of them. arriving passengers, and as the stranger raised his face toward the light, the detective saw revealed to him the features of Charles Becker, another one of the noted quartettes of forgers, whose history I have already given. Once the two men were confirmed to be staying at Randall's for the night, the detective left to make his report to the Agency.

The surveillance expanded, with more operatives tracking each group's activities. It soon became clear that some new movement was afloat. All the parties made frequent visits to a house in Allen Street, in New York City, the names of the inmates of which could not. be learned by the most diligent inquiries in the neighborhood; they were strangers and unknown. There could be no doubt, however, that this house was the general rendezvous of the forgers, and that it was at this place that their work was being done. The events that followed fully proved this. Ten days after Charles Becker arrived, and after everyone else had reached the house, an expressman's wagon appeared at the door on a dark, cloudy night. Quickly after wards three men appeared carrying a large bundle, which resembled bedding, and placed it carefully in the wagon. As soon as they finished this deed, three detectives emerged from the shadows. They apprehended the men, ordered them to surrender, and instructed the wagon driver to stay put.

This action had been so sudden, and so unexpected, that for a moment, the three stood as if rooted to the spot and unable to stir, or to speak, and they were finally conducted away without opposition or resistance, the expressman following with his wagon.

A search of the house was made, and here they discovered undoubted evidence that the place had been occupied for the purpose of counterfeiting and forging. Lithographic stones, metallic dies, prints of banknotes, checks, and skeleton bonds of various corporations were found in profusion, including several spoiled proof-sheets of the forged check of the New York Life Insurance Company.

Becker and Randall were fully known to us, but the third man had not been recognized by the operatives who made the arrest. All doubts, however, were set at rest, when on being conveyed to the central station, the light revealed the ancient features of “old man” Hearing—the printer of the old gang, in which Chapman and Adams figured so prominently.

The contents of the wagon were next examined and tightly packed between the bedding were found all the parts of a lithographic press, which no doubt were about to be removed to a more secure locality.

This furnished full proof of the guilt of these parties, and Charles IV. Pontez was arrested on the following morning, very much to his surprise, and the quartette were duly held for an examination.

The trial of these men occurred as scheduled, and the evidence presented revealed the entire scheme behind the forgery.  Charles IV. Pontez who, it was ascertained, had acted as groomsman for Joseph Randall, upon the occasion of his marriage, had stolen, as we suspected, the check from the vaults of the Insurance Company, where he was employed as a clerk, and had given the same to Randall. Randall then went to Becker—who was a son-in-law of "old man" Hearina—who engraved the imitations of the check, and Hearing did the printing. Following the completion of the task, Randall managed the signature tracing and check completion. Additionally, he impersonated Mr. Elliott, successfully defrauded the brokers, and got the money.

During the progress of the trial, which was continued for several days, the prisoners were brought back and forth from the jail to the court room, by the officers of the court, and Randall, who was of a genial and jovial disposition, soon became quite intimate with the officer in whose charge he was placed, and as a consequence the vigilance of his custodian was considerably relaxed. One day, just as the court had adjourned for recess, this officer turned around to take care of his prisoner, when to his profound dismay, he discovered that he had disappeared. They could not locate him, regardless of the extensive measures taken once the alarm sounded. He had managed a complete escape, leaving the court right before the eyes of the officer responsible for guarding him. Fortunately, for the cause of justice, I recaptured him——but had the earlier espionage of Joseph Randall been less thorough and had not everyone with whom he had associated, been fully known, he might have obtained his liberty. Our advanced work shadowing the parties before their arrest had been so complete that by maintaining surveillance on his associates, we soon found him and brought him to bay once more.

The next time he appeared for trial, he did not escape, and the three principal forgers, Joseph Randall, Charles Becker, and "old man" Hearing, were duly convicted of their crime, and condemned to long years of imprisonment.

Charles NV. Due to severe illness during his companions' trial, Pontez's investigation was put on hold. His illness worsened, and he passed away in his cell before the court could deliver a verdict.